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Fuel Rod (Confessions of a Wasteland Pony)
Fuel Rod is an antagonist in the audio drama Confessions of a Wasteland Pony. His story is told by one of his former fellow soldiers, Paladin Sandstone, in the fifth episode, The Ranger. He would reappear in the eighth episode, The Red Reaper. Biography Fuel Rod was a unicorn born into The Guardianship. He was the only child Elder Feathertail. All Elders of the Guardianship were expected to recapture at least one of the lost Special Material Command Outposts during their tenure as leader. This is a very difficult task, and over half of the Elders in their history are not able to fully accomplish. His mother was particularly proud however, and thought she could capture two within her years as their leader. To do this, she planned to capture the first one, Outpost Zeta, early on with a massive push devoting many soldiers and resources. The Guardianship were still only beginning to understand their enemy, the mysterious Great Arrow raider clan. Feathertail underestimated their resources and pushed the mission forward against the wishes of the five Grand Paladins under her. The mission was a total failure. The train tracks were sabotaged in a canyon. Once the locomotive was disabled, the ambush fully unfolded with Great Arrows on both sides of the canyon walls raining explosives and sniper fire down on the disoriented soldiers. Over 100 Guardianship steel rangers died in what would become known as the Blood Canyon Massacre. Elder Feathertail would quickly gain the nickname "The Orphan Maker" for how many young initiates were left parentless by her reckless pride. For this grave mistake, against the wishes and advice of the Grand Paladins, they voted for the first time in history to strip her of her power and execute her. Fuel Rod was still young as this happened, and the members of the Order of Justice would help hide his identity and watch over him as he was transferred for his own protection. Fuel Rod's sadness would soon turn into rage. He blamed the Guardianship for their punishment of his mother and decided that she had been in the right all along for taking the gamble, even if the day had been lost. Over time his rage and bitterness would manifest in looking for ways to sabotage the Guardianship. When the Guardianship began construction of the Delta Pass Tunnel, Fuel Rod uncovered plans for The Outposts which had been hidden for decades. Using these plans he could sneak a foreign army past the defenses of each installation. He went out one night and made contact with the Great Arrows. He presented them his plan and cut a deal with their leader, Tick-Tock. He would be promised safety, protection, and good living conditions in exchange for the passwords. Tick-Tock agreed to the deal. The siege would commence not long after the Guardianship captured Outpost Zeta. The plan had a critical point of failure however. The new Elder, Greycrest, survived the sabotage of his power armor long enough to trigger the self-destruct of the installations. Fuel Rod was able to still recover the Master Spell Matrix after attacking Paladin Sandstone, Armature, and Carmina. He surrendered the spell matrix to Governess Tombstone in Canyon City and was transferred to someplace where he could be protected as well as stay busy with work. After confessing all of this to the Red Reaper, the Reaper tortured and executed Fuel Rod for his crimes. Quotes * "All of you turned against us. All of you betrayed us. My mother was going to do great things, she had a bright future, she had so many plans. She was going to take us all the way to Outpost Theta! But then you executed her!" - Paladin Sandstone (paraphrasing Fuel Rod) * "I could hear a loud ringing in my ears as I looked him up and down, making sure it was him. Piss-yellow coat. Dull grey mane. Green jumpsuit." - The Red Reaper (describing when they finally found Fuel Rod) Behind The Scenes * The name "Fuel Rod" was meant to invoke the idea of an unstable compound that might explode if hit with the wrong spark. This was meant to allude to how his mother's execution would lead to the total destruction of The Guardianship. * In universe, the name Fuel Rod was also a fitting aptronym for the kind of skills he would have working with arcane power lines and other "systems engineering" type tasks. Category:EAST Corp Productions Category:Confessions of a Wasteland Pony Category:Characters (Confessions of a Wasteland Pony)